Social and Social Scientific Perspectives in Judicial Interpretations of the Constitution

• NCJ Number: 130670
• Journal: Law and Human Relations Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (April 1991) Pages: 101-120
• Author(s): A J Tomkins; K Oursland
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

While traditional judicial research has recognized Muller v. Oregon as the first case in which the U.S. Supreme Court directed its attention toward social science and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka as the first case in which the Court relied upon social science in making its decision, these authors maintain that social scientific perspectives have consistently been a part of legal decisionmaking in cases involving social issues.

Abstract

Two 19th-century decisions, Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson, illustrate the influence that the social sciences of the day played in influencing judicial decisionmaking about race relations. The other articles in this special issue examine the long tradition of social science in the analysis and considerations of guarantees provided by the Bill of Rights and of civil rights protected under the fourteenth amendment. 119 notes (Author abstract modified)